The Deadline to Pay the Legal Bonus is Approaching

According to article 306 of the Colombian Labor Code, employers have the obligation to pay their employees a social benefit called “Legal Bonus” corresponding to 30 days of salary per year, that is, for each year worked, 30 days of salary must be recognized. This Legal Bonus must be recognized in two payments: half by June 30th at the latest and the other half no later than the first twenty days of December. The recognition of this payment must be made for the entire semester worked or proportional to the time worked.

In addition, bear in mind that all workers who are bound by an employment contract are entitled to the Legal Bonus, including domestic workers, family service drivers, daily workers or farm workers and, in general, those who are considered as dependent workers.

In accordance with the above, by June 30th at the latest, you will have the obligation to pay an amount equivalent to half of the monthly salary received by your workers for those that began working on or before January 1st. For workers who began after January 1st, payment must be made in proportion to the time worked. In case you do not make the corresponding payment before this date, you must pay, as compensation, a sum equal to the last daily salary for each day of delay, up to 24 months. If after 24 months you have not yet made the payment, you must recognize default interests[1].

In case you have doubts about this or any other work obligation, do not hesitate to contact us.

[1] Colombian Labor Code. Article 65.

Time Frame for Responding to Requests for Information are Back to Normal

Article 23 of the Colombian Constitution recognizes citizens’ right to submit requests and petitions before the authorities, in order to obtain information on situations of general and/or particular interest. In addition, the Colombian Code of Administrative Procedure establishes that it is possible for citizens to also file petitions before private organizations when it is necessary to guarantee their fundamental rights. These requests must be answered within the term that the law indicates. 

In this regard, bear in mind that within the framework of the health emergency caused by COVID-19, Legislative Decree 491 of 2020 was issued, which established an extension of said terms. Thus, public and private entities that received petitions had a longer period to give a substantive response to the requests that were submitted to them. However, on May 17, through Law 2207 of 2022, this measure was repealed, so terms to respond to the different requests are once again those indicated in article 14 of the Colombian Code of Administrative Procedure, namely:

  1. For documents and information requests, entities will have ten (10) business days to respond counted from the receipt of the request. 
  2. For requests addressed to the authorities on consultations regarding issues that are in their charge, thirty (30) business days, counted from the receipt of the request.
  3. Other requests that are not within any of the aforementioned cases must be resolved within fifteen (15) business days.

For more information, do not hesitate to contact us.

FAQ: Deposit of Financial Statements

Article 41 of Law 222 of 1995 establishes that companies’ financial statements must be public, which is why a copy must be deposited, along with certain additional documents, in the Chamber of Commerce of the company’s domicile. This way, the Chamber of Commerce may issue a copy of these documents to third parties that request them and pay the associated costs. Here we answer the most frequently asked questions.

1.Who must  deposit this information?

All commercial companies have the obligation to publicize their financial statements through the deposit of these documents before the Chamber of Commerce of the company’s domicile.

2. Is this obligation fulfilled with the renewal of the commercial registration?

No, these are two different obligations. Although it is necessary to provide certain financial information to be able to renew the commercial registration, this does NOT fulfill the obligation to deposit the company’s financial statements.

3. What information must be deposited with the Chamber of Commerce and what is the deadline to do so?

The aforementioned article 41 of Law 222 of 1995 establishes that a copy of  the following documents must be deposited:

  • General-purpose financial statements, which may be basic or consolidated[1], and that consist of:
    • The balance sheet,
    • The income statement,
    • Changes in equity statement,
    • Changes in financial situation statement, and
    • The cash flow statement.

  • The notes to the financial statements and,
  • The statutory auditor’s opinion, if the company has one.

Additionally, article 41 establishes that the deadline for making this deposit is within the month following the date on which the financial statements are approved.

4. Do the financial statements have to meet any requirements?

Financial statements must be prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In addition, article 37 of Law 222 of 1995 establishes that the financial statements must be certified by the legal representative and the public accountant under whose responsibility they were prepared. This certification consists of declaring that the statements contained in them have been previously verified and that they have been faithfully taken from the company’s accounting books and comply with the requirements of the applicable technical regulations.  

In addition to the above, the financial statements may be submitted in a simple or authenticated photocopy with clear text so that their content can be reviewed without inconvenience. Additionally, the deposited documents’ name and date must be indicated and these documents must be signed by the company’s legal representative and by the public accountant that prepared the financial statements or the statutory auditor in cases where the company has one.

5. How is this information deposited?

The registration process of the documents mentioned above must be carried out before the Chamber of Commerce of the company’s domicile and may be done either virtually or in person, depending on the services offered by the corresponding Chamber of Commerce. For this, a letter signed by the company’s legal representative must be presented stating that the deposit of the financial statements will be made, along with the corresponding payment for these documents’ registration.

6. Are there any exceptions to this obligation? 

Article 41 establishes that the different entities that exercise “inspection, surveillance and control” may establish cases in which the deposit of this information is not required or an additional means of publicity is required. In this regard, it should be noted that, as a general rule, this entity is the Superintendence of Corporations, which has not established any exception or additional requirement for this obligation. However, depending on the economic sector in which a company’s activity is carried out, the inspecting entity may be different and there may be exceptions or additional requirements. (e.g. the Financial Superintendence inspects and surveils those companies that perform activities that involve the management, use and investment of resources collected from the public).

Moreover, this article establishes that in cases in which companies have already deposited their financial statements before the Superintendence of Corporations, either at the request of this entity or because they are obliged to annually present financial statements before this superintendence, it is not necessary to also deposit them before the Chamber of Commerce.

7. What happens if this obligation is not fulfilled?

The Superintendence of Corporations[2] has established that the non-preparation and dissemination of financial statements may result in the imposition of fines of up to 200 legal minimum monthly wages (approx. US$ 50.000). Additionally, the directors and the statutory auditor will be liable for the damages caused to the company, the partners or third parties for the non-preparation or dissemination of the financial statements.

In case you have doubts about this or any obligation of your company, do not hesitate to contact us.

[1] Superintendence of Corporations, Opinion 340-036460 of August 2, 2004

[2] Superintendence of Corporations, Opinion 220-51734.

Requirement of Pre-Tax Registry to Create a Business before the Bogota Chamber of Commerce is Eliminated

One of the essential requirements to create a company, open branches of a foreign company or register non-profit entities, is the completion of a draft of the Tax Registry (RUT, by its Spanish acronym), known as “pre-RUT” and its filing before the Chamber of Commerce. This form contains all the information that allows the identification of the company and the individuals that constitute it. However, in order to simplify and expedite this process, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and the Colombian National Tax Authority (DIAN, by its Spanish acronym) reached an agreement to eliminate this requirement.

The completion and submission of this “pre-RUT” form represented an additional process since it had to be reviewed and approved by DIAN officers, which implied a longer waiting time in the generation of the commercial registration. However, thanks to this decision to eliminate the “pre-RUT”, it is now only necessary to fill out the Business Registry Form (“RUES”, by its Spanish acronym) and submit it before the Bogota Chamber of Commerce virtually or in person, along with the other forms and documents required according to the type of company to be created. Once this application is submitted, the Tax Identification Number (NIT, by its Spanish acronym) will be obtained automatically and immediately, without any additional process being required.

It must be noted that the elimination of this requirement applies only to the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, that is, in the city of Bogotá and in the municipalities of Cundinamarca in which it has jurisdiction. However, it is expected that in the near future more Chambers of Commerce will join this decision in order to simplify this procedure throughout the country.

In case you require more information, do not hesitate to contact us.